Ricciardo admits DOUBTING himself over media criticism

Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on the criticism being placed upon him as he fights to stay in Formula 1 - after his hopes were certainly boosted after an amazing Friday showing at Miami.

Ricciardo roared back towards the front of the grid, putting his RB car on the second row in the qualifying session for Saturday's sprint race as he targets his first points of the 2024 season so far.

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The Aussie is one of the most popular figures around the paddock - boosted by the Netflix series Drive to Survive - and also one of the most successful on the track in recent years, claiming eight victories and 32 podiums across his career.

But despite his popularity, criticism has been flying thick and fast and Ricciardo's future has come into question following his poor start to this season.

Since 2022, Ricciardo has struggled to perform at the levels he'd previously shown at Red Bull and seemingly had his F1 career ended that season when he departed McLaren.

Fans were elated to see the ‘Honey Badger’ return to the grid midway through 2023 at AlphaTauri in place of Nyck de Vries, but then suffered another setback as he missed five races after breaking his wrist in Zandvoort.

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Ricciardo opens up on criticism

Ricciardo was retained by the team for 2024 as they rebranded to Visa Cash App RB, and he looked to set to sights on a return to Red Bull.

But this season, he has been considerably outperformed by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda and now the narrative has shifted from whether he will get that seat at the main Red Bull team, to whether he will even be on the grid for next season.

Speaking with ESPN, Ricciardo opened up on the ‘fickle’ opinions of fans and pundits in the sport, and admitted that these changing narratives have caused him to place some doubt on himself.

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"I know if I was going to have an awesome weekend or two, the narrative would suddenly be that Daniel's back. It can change so quickly,” he said.

"But that's also an example where you can't get caught out on it. If you read everything it's like, 'oh I'm the man', 'oh no I'm not the man', 'oh I'm the man', 'oh no I'm not the man,' just over and over. Then you start, if you're not strong minded enough, you start doubting yourself... [thinking] am I past it, am I a bit washed? Whatever.

"I know if I was to read something at the moment it's not going to say 'Daniel's on fire this year.' Clearly on paper I'm not. But do I feel like I have the ability to be on fire and go on a run? Absolutely I do."

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